Stanley Spencer Gallery facts for kids
The Stanley Spencer Gallery is an art museum in the South of England. It shows the amazing life and artwork of the artist Stanley Spencer. The gallery opened in 1962. You can find it in the village of Cookham, Berkshire. This is where Stanley Spencer was born and lived for most of his life. The gallery has over 100 paintings and drawings. Some of these are on loan for a long time. The gallery often puts on new shows. These shows sometimes include art from other museums and collections.
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Why Cookham Was Special to Spencer
Cookham was super important to Stanley Spencer. He even called it ‘a Village in Heaven’! This village gave him endless ideas for his art throughout his life. After he passed away in 1959, his friends wanted to create a special place in Cookham. They wanted a permanent home to show his paintings and drawings. This would be a way to remember the artist.
Many people helped with this project. These included Joan George, Gerard Shiel, Donald Rademacher, and Rev Michael Westropp. In 1962, the Gallery opened inside the old Wesleyan Chapel. Stanley Spencer used to go to this chapel with his mother when he was a child. Lord Astor, who helped start the Gallery, wrote something special for the opening. He said the Gallery was small and cheerful, just like Stanley. He felt it fit in with the village and showed how special Stanley was.
The first show had many artworks on loan. Some of these are now part of the gallery's permanent collection. One huge painting, Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta, was unfinished when Spencer died. It was shown there. Stanley's daughters, Shirin and Unity, came to the exhibition. They have supported the Gallery a lot over the years. At first, a paid person ran the Gallery. Now, a team of volunteers does a great job running it.
The Gallery Building's Story
The Wesleyan chapel on Cookham High Street was built in 1846. It was a simple building made of brick and slate. It could hold up to 107 people. Stanley Spencer went to this chapel with his mother. Her brother had been a local preacher there.
The church services made a big impression on the young artist. He felt a strong spiritual feeling inside the small building. So much so that over thirty years later, he could remember it in great detail. He used these memories when drawing Ecstasy in a Wesleyan Chapel. This drawing is now in the Gallery's collection.
The chapel was not used as much after a bigger Methodist Church was built in Cookham Rise in 1904. It eventually closed. The Spencer family was very upset and tried hard to keep it open. Stanley's brother Gilbert Spencer remembered seeing the chapel door locked for the last time in 1910. He felt a very important part of his brother's life ended then.
After that, a local helper named Colonel Ricardo changed the building into the "King's Hall." This was a reading and recreation room for people in the village. It stayed like that until the Second World War. After the war, it was used for different things. One was a life drawing class suggested by Stanley Spencer himself. After Spencer died in 1959, a young artist named Faith Gibbon was using the chapel as her studio. She invited the group planning the new Stanley Spencer Memorial Trust to visit. That's when they decided it was the perfect spot for The Stanley Spencer Gallery. They made some simple changes. They blocked the side windows for more wall space to hang art. They also put in a new floor, doors, and lights.
In 2006 and 2007, the building was completely updated. This cost over £800,000, thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund. It reopened on September 29, 2007 [1]. This made it a modern, bright space to show Spencer's artworks in the best way. A new upper floor (mezzanine) was added. New, modern equipment was put in. This careful update brought back the simple beauty of the building that Stanley Spencer loved so much.
Spencer's Cookham Village
Spencer was born at Fernlea on Cookham High Street on June 30, 1891. He was the tenth of 11 children in his family. His grandfather, Julius, a Master Builder, built the house. Julius also built the local school and many other houses in the village.
Before the First World War, Cookham was a quiet country village. It was a bit cut off from the outside world. The bend in the River Thames made it feel almost like an island. The village high street had a blacksmith, a baker, a butcher, a chemist, and a working farm. All these places would later appear in his artwork.
Young Spencer was fascinated by everything around him. He loved seeing the cows in the barn across from his bedroom. He also noticed the piles of rubbish in the farmyard. (This was before regular trash collection in the village.) He often swam in the river. He said his early morning swim, when sunlight hit the water, was a time for "visitations." His early lessons were taught by his two sisters in a small shed in his grandmother's garden. This helped him love nature. Long walks through the woods and meadows were a regular part of his life. He often returned to the sights of his childhood village. For example, his 1958 painting Crucifixion was inspired by piles of rubble on the High Street. This rubble was from laying new drainage pipes.
Cookham has changed a lot since Spencer was young. But you can still see many places from his paintings. You can even see the views he drew so well. Some of the village feeling he enjoyed can be found by walking through the Holy Trinity churchyard. Or you can follow Spencer's path along the river bank up to Cockmarsh and Winter Hill.
The Gallery's Art Collection
The Stanley Spencer Gallery has one of the biggest collections of Stanley Spencer's artworks in the world. It includes 24 paintings, 66 drawings, 8 prints (lithographs), and 3 very early works done with pen and ink.
A very important part of the collection is the Barbara Karmel gift from 1995. This included four oil paintings. One of these is a masterpiece called Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors (1933). It also included eight drawings, some of which were his very first. You can see the full collection online on the Gallery's website.
The collection shows all types of Spencer's work. This goes from early sketches and studies to his finished paintings. For example, you can see:
- Preparatory Drawings and Studies
- Woolshop (The) [2] Drawing, pencil on paper – 16in x 11in
- Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors (Study) [3] (1933) Drawing, pencil on squared paper, 9in x 8in
- Paintings
- Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors (1933) Painting, oil on canvas – 36in x 40in
- Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta (1952–59) Painting, oil on canvas unfinished – 81in x 211in
- Portraits
- Self Portrait (1923) Painting, oil on canvas – 20in x 16in
- Portrait of Mr and Mrs Baggett (1956) Painting, oil on canvas – 24in x 36in
- Gardens and Landscapes
- Englefield House, Cookham (1951) Painting, oil on canvas – 30in x 20in
- Neighbours (1936) Painting, oil on canvas – 30in x 20in
The Gallery's Archive
On the upper floor (mezzanine) of the gallery, there is a small study area. This area holds books and old documents (archive material). It also has a computer presentation about the artist and his work. You can look at many books and articles about Stanley Spencer and related topics there during opening hours.
Some of the archive materials you can easily see include:
- Newspaper clippings from the 1920s to today.
- Student papers and essays.
- Written memories of Spencer.
- Exhibition catalogs.
- Copies of letters written by Stanley Spencer. This includes letters he wrote during the First World War to his friend, the artist and poet Desmond Chute. The original letters are in the Gallery archive.
You can also see more archive material by making an appointment. This includes sound recordings of people who knew Spencer. There are also research papers from Spencer's biographer, Kenneth Pople. Plus, there is a large collection of photographs.
Various items that belonged to Stanley Spencer are always on display in the Gallery. Two interesting items are the pram he famously used to carry his painting tools around the village. Also, you can see the tiny brushes he used for the fine details in his later artworks.
Past Exhibitions at the Gallery
The exhibitions at the gallery change every six months. The summer show often includes artworks borrowed from other places, based on a certain theme. The winter show usually features art from the Gallery's own collection.
Over the years, the gallery has explored many parts of Spencer's art. These include his portraits, landscapes, and dream-like (visionary) works. They have also shown art about places both far and near, and specific times in the artist's life. Art by his family and other artists from his time have also been shown. (You can find catalogs of all past exhibitions on the library shelves in the gallery.)
A special exhibition in recent years was The Art of Shipbuilding on the Clyde in 2011. During this show, the whole Gallery was filled with the huge paintings Spencer created during the Second World War. He made these when he was sent to Lithgows Shipyard in Port Glasgow as an official World War II artist.
Other exhibitions have included Stanley Spencer in Cookham (November 7, 2013 – March 30, 2014). Also, Paradise Regained. Spencer in the Aftermath of the First World War (April 2 – November 2, 2014). This show was timed to match the 100-year anniversary of the First World War. It looked at how this huge event affected Stanley Spencer's art. Key paintings from that time were on display. Through these, the artist tried to get back the artistic vision he feared he had lost because of the war's trauma. Works and extra materials about Spencer's wartime experiences in Macedonia were also shown. Plus, details about the planning of the Burghclere Chapel.
Images for kids
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General view of the Gallery today
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Computer impression of original interior
See also
- List of single-artist museums
